Hampson injury prompts move towards uncontested scrums

A working party set up by the Rugby Football Union is considering whether to recommend to the International Rugby Board that scrums should be uncontested. The working party was set up after the Leicester prop Matt Hampson suffered a serious neck injury last year while training with the England Under-21s.

Hampson was released from hospital five weeks ago, over 16 months after being paralysed from the neck down, having been awarded £1.125m in compensation under the RFU's insurance policy. Leicester set up the Matt Hampson Trust Fund and Hampson's local health authority is paying for 10 carers at an estimated cost of £250,000 a year.

Earlier this year, the RFU created a three-pronged player safety group, overseen by the chairman of the management board, Martyn Thomas, to look at what it calls "catastrophic injuries". The first group, led by the England doctor, Simon Kemp, is concerned with avoiding injuries through changes in the laws, improved coaching and vigilant refereeing.

The second group is looking at ensuring specialist care as soon as possible. Hampson was tended by the referee at the training session, Tony Spreadbury, a qualified medic, before he was taken to Northampton general hospital. The hospital did not have a specialist unit and was unable to find a bed anywhere in the country. The following morning Hampson was transferred to Stoke Mandeville hospital in Aylesbury, where he underwent a four-hour operation.

The third group is concerned with what the RFU should do when an injured player needs support. The RFU paid for Hampson to have an extra carer at Stoke Mandeville, though it was not obliged to do so.

"We hope to be in a position to make some recommendations by Christmas," said Thomas. "When it comes to coaching, refereeing and action to be taken after a player has been injured we can be proactive, but in the case of law changes we are only able to make recommendations to the IRB.

"The issue of whether scrums should be depowered is an emotive one, not least because it would take us a step nearer to rugby league, but there is another school of thought which says that as scrums are only a means of restarting a game, why should risks be taken. It is interesting that France has depowered scrums below level three [amateur level]."

The RFU has an insurance policy for players injured on international duty which covers medical expenses but becomes invalid when they return to action or if the injury ends their career. Unions are concerned about the potential costs of catastrophic injuries, with lifetime care for a paralysed player estimated at £6-8m. Rugby is bracing itself for a legal challenge arguing that it has a duty of care to players under its authority. A consequence could be bankruptcy.

If the RFU adopted uncontested scrums as a policy, it would have to make a recommendation to the IRB laws committee, which in turn would have to present a case to the board's full council. It is unlikely that any major law changes will be made until the spring of 2008.

Thomas became involved in Hampson's case after the RFU spent months haggling with the prop's family about insurance, culminating in a letter last December saying financial aid would cease the following month. "Matt was the first player to suffer a catastrophic injury on England duty and we have had to review our procedures," he said.

Last year, research published in the Medical Journal of Australia found that seven of 23 players who suffered severe spinal injuries between 1997 and 2002 had been hurt in scrums. James Bourke, a consultant general surgeon at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham and former Nottingham RFC doctor, has questioned whether contested scrums are legal under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

A report published earlier this year said more than 100 players registered by the RFU had suffered paralysing injuries as a result of the game. "Medical care is picked up by the National Health Service unless a player has his own accident insurance, and it is subject to regular reviewa" said Thomas. "We do not want a postcode lottery for players who suffer catastrophic injuries and that is why we are looking at every aspect of this very serious issue."